do you think that is under the pointer?’
Laurie played with the focus so that she could visually move up and down
in the section. There were a few curious flecks of basophilic material.
‘I don’t know. I can’t even be sure it’s not artifact.’
‘Don’t know, either,’ Jack said. ‘Unless it’s what stimulated the
granuloma.’
‘That’s a thought,’ Laurie said. She straightened up. ‘What did you mean
by the liver being tolerated too well?’
‘The lab reported that Franconi had not been taking any
immunosuppressant drugs,’ Jack said. ‘That seems highly improbable since
there is no general inflammation.’
‘Are we sure it was a transplant?’ Laurie asked.
‘Absolutely,’ Jack said. He summarized what Ted Lynch had reported to
him.
Laurie was as puzzled as Jack. ‘Except for identical twins I can’t
imagine two people’s DQ alpha sequences being exactly the same,’ she
said.
‘It sounds like you know more about it than I do,’ Jack said. ‘Until a
couple of days ago, I’d never even heard of DQ alpha.’
‘Have you made any headway as to where Franconi could have had this
transplant?’ Laurie asked.
‘I wish,’ Jack said. He then told Laurie about Bart’s vain efforts. Jack
explained that he himself had spent a good portion of the previous night
calling centers all over Europe.
‘Good Lord!’ Laurie remarked.
‘I’ve even enlisted Lou’s help,’ Jack said. ‘I found out from Franconi’s
mother that he’d gone off to what she thought was a spa and came home a
new man. I’m thinking that’s when he might have gotten the transplant.
Unfortunately, she has no idea where he went. Lou’s checking Immigration
to see if he’d gone out of the country.’
‘If anyone can find out, Lou can,’ Laurie said.
‘By the way,’ Jack said assuming a teasingly superior air. ‘Lou ‘fessed
up that he was the source of the leak about Franconi to the newspapers.’
‘I don’t believe it,’ Laurie said.
‘I got it from the horse’s mouth,’ Jack said. ‘So I expect an abject
apology.’
‘You’ve got it,’ Laurie said. ‘I’m amazed. Did he give any reason?’
‘He said they wanted to release the information right away to see if it
would smoke out any more tips from informers. He said it worked to an
extent. They got a tip which was later confirmed that Franconi’s body
had been taken under orders from the Lucia crime family.’
‘Good grief!’ Laurie said and shuddered. ‘This case is starting to
remind me too much of the Cerino affair.’
‘I know what you mean,’ Jack said. ‘Instead of eyes, it’s livers.’
‘You don’t suppose there’s a private hospital here in the United States
that’s doing undercover liver transplants, do you?’ Laurie asked.
‘I can’t imagine,’ Jack said. ‘No doubt there could be big money
involved, but there is the issue of supply. I mean, there’s seven
thousand plus people in this country waiting for livers as it is. Few of
these people have the money to make it worthwhile.’
‘I wish I were as confident as you,’ Laurie said. ‘The profit motive has
taken over American medicine by storm.’
‘But the big money in medicine is in volume,’ Jack said. ‘There are too
few wealthy people who need livers. The investment in the physical plant
and the requisite secrecy wouldn’t pay off, especially without a supply
of organs. You’d have to postulate some modern version of Burk and Hare,
and although such a scenario might work in a B movie, in reality it
would be too risky and uncertain. No businessman in his right mind would
go for it, no matter how venal.’
‘Maybe you have a point,’ Laurie said.
‘I’m convinced there’s something else involved here,’ Jack said. ‘There
are just too many unexplained facts from the DQ alpha nonsense to the
fact that Franconi wasn’t taking any immunosuppressant drugs. We’re
missing something: something key, something unexpected.’
‘What an effort!’ Laurie exclaimed. ‘One thing is for sure, I’m glad I
foisted this case onto you.’
‘Thanks for nothing,’ Jack quipped. ‘It’s certainly a frustrating case.
On a happier note, last night at basketball, Warren told me that Natalie
has been asking about you. What do you say that we all get together this